Friday, October 31, 2014

New
York, NY—Following a historic restitution settlement regarding the Stadt
am Blauen Fluss -Krumau(Town on the
Blue River - Krumau), a 1910 watercolor painting by artist Egon
Schiele, a press conference will be
held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust on October 31, 2014 at 10:15 a.m. The
event will take placebefore the painting is offered for auction
at Christie’s as part of the Impressionism & Modern Art Evening sale on November 5, 2014.

The
Museum of Jewish Heritage was chosen by the Grünbaum family to host the conference
as a setting that would provide a place for reconciliation and healing, yet
appropriately memorialize Franz Friedrich (Fritz) and Elisabeth Grünbaum in the
context of the suffering of so many in the Holocaust and the resilience and
resolve of those who resisted, escaped or survived. Speakers at the event will
include former Manhattan District
Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, Museum
Director Dr. David G. Marwell, and
Timothy Reif, who will represent the Grünbaum family. Additional family
members will be in attendance and available for interviews.

Robert
M. Morgenthau, former Manhattan District Attorney who is now of counsel at
Wachtel Lipton Rosen and Katz, said, “I am pleased to see families working
together through difficult and painful issues and have nothing but praise for
the role of Christie’s in bringing these families together and bringing this
beautiful artwork into the public view in a way that we can all admire.I believe that this resolution is the
embodiment of the spirit of the Washington Conference Principles on
Nazi-Confiscated Art that the United States signed in 1998 and that the museums
and auction houses of our nation pledged to uphold.”

Timothy
Reif — a Grünbaum family member who participated in launching in 1998 the
effort to call attention to and reclaim Fritz Grünbaum’s art collection, which
includes 81 works by the Austrian Expressionist master Egon Schiele — will be
present.In 1998, District Attorney
Robert Morgenthau seized Egon Schiele’s Dead City IIIand Portrait of Wally.The
seizure led to the Washington Conference on Nazi-Confiscated Art of 1998.Dead
City III, which was looted from Fritz Grünbaum by Nazi authorities, was
returned to Austria, where it is currently at the Leopold Museum, subject to the claims of the Grünbaum heirs.

Timothy
Reif said, “Today’s ceremony is a tribute to the courage of Fritz Grünbaum, who
ridiculed the Nazis in his movies and cabaret performances throughout the
1930s, as well as to the courage of Mr. Morgenthau and his relentless
commitment to the pursuit of justice.We
thank Christie’s and the Estate of Ilona Gerstel for acknowledging Fritz
Grünbaum and his loss and acting appropriately.”

Museum
Director, Dr. David G. Marwell said, “We honor the memory of victims of the
Holocaust every day at this Museum and we remember the millions who, while they
may have themselves survived, lost their communities, families, homes, and
property.While they can never recover
what they have lost, it is important to set some things right when at all
possible—no matter how long it takes.Commemorating Holocaust victims and compensating the heirs of Holocaust
victims and survivors represents a small measure of justice, and we commend all
parties for their dedication to this cause.We are honored to host these family members at the Museum to help us
understand an important element of Holocaust Remembrance and make clear that
justice – even delayed – is worthy of pursuit.”

On
five other occasions the Museum of Jewish Heritage has held ceremonies for
stolen paintings or artifacts.Portrait of Wally, painted by famed
Austrian artist Egon Schiele, which was the personal property of Lea Bondi
Jaray, a Jewish art dealer in Vienna, who fled in 1939 to London, where she
died in 1969. The painting subsequently became the subject of court proceedings
in New York City from 1998 to 2010, after it was loaned in 1997 to the Museum
of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) by the Leopold Museum as part of an exhibition
of Schieles from the Leopold Museum's collection.Following a seizureof the painting from the Museum of Modern Art
and subsequent litigations and proceedings, the Leopold Museum agreed to pay
the Estate a substantial sum that the painting was to be loaned by the Leopold
Museum to this museum. The Seamstress, painted by famed German artist
Lesser Ury in 1883, was subjected to a forced sale by the Nazis in 1940, but
was returned to the Lowenthal Family in 1999. The Loewenthals immediately
loaned the painting to the Museum of Jewish Heritage to ensure that the public
was able to see it and enjoy it. In February 2001, the Museum hosted the news
conference in which Olevano, painted by Alexander Kanoldt in 1927, was
returned to the heirs of Holocaust victim Dr. Ismar Littmann. The painting was
displayed at the Museum through April 2001. In April of 2009, the 17th-century
Dutch painting Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe was returned to
collector Max Stern’s estate and in November of 2009, a rare 16th century
Viennese bible was returned to representatives of the Jewish community of
Vienna.

Among the
exceptional works on paper featured in Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art
Evening Sale on November 5, 2014 is Egon Schiele’s Stadt am blauen Fluss
(Krumau), executed in the summer of 1910, at a critical turning point in
the artist’s career (estimate: $800,000-1,200,000). Schiele traded the
claustrophobic confines of Vienna for the summer in favor of the Bohemian
landscape, seeking to pare down his style of landscape painting to its most
essential elements, just as he had with figure painting previously. The
metamorphosis can be seen in ten land- and townscape paintings from that summer
though the present landscape is one of only three outdoor subjects executed
that year in non-opaque watercolor. Schiele visualized the scene from a
bluff overlooking the Moldau River, gazing toward a bend in the river on the
eastern outskirts of the medieval Bohemian town of Krumau. In contrast to
the technique of post-Impressionist brushwork, Schiele allowed his fluid colors
loose rein, contained within a framework of quickly drawn lines; the
composition of Stadt am blauen Fluss is a startling demonstration of
distance and space, stacked vertically in the flat modernist manner.
This rare landscape represents one of the most stunning
stylistic transformations to have been achieved in 20th century
painting. Stadt am blauen Fluss is being offered for sale
pursuant to the successful resolution of a restitution settlement agreement
between the Estate of Ilona Gerstel and the Gruenbaum Heirs, which allows for
clear title to the work. The proceeds will benefit several
Holocaust-related charities that are beneficiaries of the Estate.

About the Museum of Jewish Heritage

The
Museum’s exhibitions educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the rich
tapestry of Jewish life over the past century—before, during, and after the
Holocaust.Current special exhibitions
includeAgainst the Odds: American Jews and the Rescue of Europe’s Refugees,
1933-1941 andA Town Known as Auschwitz: The
Life and Death of a Jewish Community. It is also home to the award-winning Keeping
History Center, an interactive
visitor experience, and Andy Goldsworthy’s memorial Garden of Stones.
The Museum offers visitors a
vibrant public program schedule in its Edmond J. Safra Hall and receives
general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs.

Partner in Manhattan law firm Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP in New York City litigating in federal and state courts and arbitrations. Experienced trial and appellate practitioner. Author: Copyright Litigation Handbook (Thomson Reuters 2015-2016). The New York Law Journal called it "an indispensable guide". Serve on the Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association, served as Chair of the Circuit Vice Presidents, Vice President for the Second Circuit and General Counsel. Member Board of Governors, National Arts Club. President, Network of Bar Leaders (2013-2014).
Attorney advertising disclaimer - prior results do not guarantee success. The statements and opinions voiced here are my own and not of my law firm.

About Me

Partner in Manhattan law firm Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP in New York City litigating in federal and state courts and arbitrations. Experienced trial and appellate practitioner. Author: Copyright Litigation Handbook (Thomson Reuters 2015-2016). The New York Law Journal called it "an indispensable guide". Serve on the Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association, served as Chair of the Circuit Vice Presidents, Vice President for the Second Circuit and General Counsel. Member Board of Governors, National Arts Club. President, Network of Bar Leaders (2013-2014).
Attorney advertising disclaimer - prior results do not guarantee success. The statements and opinions voiced here are my own and not of my law firm.